CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Of the 18 races on this year’s Tennessee State Primary and Montgomery County General Election ballot, only five were contested. The remaining 13 candidates sailed through without opposition.
Here are the candidates who made it through the Aug. 1 ballot uncontested. They are identified as R (Republican), D (Democrat) or I (independent).
State Primary
These candidates were running in the State Primary Election. These party winners will now face each other in the Nov. 5 election.
U.S. House, Dist. 7
- Mark Green, R, incumbent
- Megan Barry, D
Tennessee Senate, Dist. 22
- Bill Powers, R, incumbent
- Karen Reynolds, D
Tennessee House, Dist. 67
- Jamie Dean Peltz, R
- Ronnie Glynn, D, incumbent
Tennessee House, Dist. 68
- Garfield Scott, D, will face the Republican Primary winner in November
Tennessee House, Dist. 75
- Jeff Burkhart, R, incumbent
- Allie Phillips, D
County General Election
The following Montgomery County candidates were unopposed in this election.
Circuit Court Judge, Part VI
- Ashleigh L. Travis, R, appointed incumbent
Assessor of Property
- Erinne J. Hester, R, incumbent
Highway Supervisor
- Jeffery H. Bryant Jr., R, incumbent
School Board, Dist. 4
- Kent Griffy, R, incumbent
MORE: Election Day voting begins in Montgomery County, with polls open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Race for Congress, District 7
One of the biggest races on the ballot was complicated this year by a Congressional redistricting that took some by surprise.
When the Tennessee General Assembly rearranged the district lines, as required after the 2020 Census, they carved up Davidson County into a swirl that now includes District 7. Previously, District 7 stretched from the Kentucky state line to the Alabama state line, including Clarksville and part of Williamson County. With this redistricting, much of Nashville is now included. That means Rep. Mark Green might face Nashville politicians running for the U.S. House seat, and the first to step into the ring was former Nashville Mayor Megan Berry.
Both candidates recently joined in the 116th annual Lone Oak Picnic in Cunningham, and made their pitches to the crowd.
Mark Green: ‘If you want stability in the world, vote for me’
“If you want open borders, you don’t want me,” Green told the crowd. “I passed the most conservative border security bill in the history of this country as the chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, and I also did what the House could do to hold the Biden administration accountable. I impeached the first sitting Cabinet secretary in the history of this country, Alejandro Mayorkas, because he violated the laws passed by Congress.
“If you want the economy to be like it is right now, costing the average Tennessean $12,000 more a year for just the basics, you don’t want me. Because I’m for reducing government spending, I’m for turning on oil and gas in this country, because when we do, it costs a little less for that tractor to produce the wheat that produces the bread and it costs a little less at the grocery store. But some people don’t get that.
“And if you want stability in the world, vote for me, because I’m pro-Israel, and I will push back just as I did this time, against the president who took away the weapons and the munitions of the Israeli government fighting terrorists who invaded their country.”
Megan Berry: ‘People want government to work for them’
Berry said she’s been visiting the 14 counties that make up District 7 talking to folks, “and I can tell you the one thing I hear – and I hear it today – people want government to work, they want government to get things done, and they want folks to go to Washington and show up for them.”
“They want access to rural hospitals. They want to make sure they have access to health care,” Berry said. “I have a neighbor that I take for her cancer treatments. And you know what? She exists on Social Security, she is getting Medicaid, and that’s how she’s getting her treatment, and she is terrified that under a different administration, she’s not going to get access to Social Security and she’s not going to get access to Medicaid. And I know that struggle, and I know that fear.
“We also want to make sure that we are safeguarding everything that we are doing for our veterans. My dad’s a vet. He’s a proud Marine. And I grew up in a household where, let me tell you, he was on us and making sure that we understood service.”
The candidates will face each other in the State General and City Elections, along with with the presidential election, on Nov. 5.
Lee Erwin contributed to this report.